Source: Variety The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday announced its shortlists in the Documentary Feature and Documentary Short Subject categories. The shortlists pare down the list of Oscar hopefuls from which Academy members will choose nominees...

Source: The Hollywood Reporter Netflix is adding another true crime docuseries to its roster, this time focusing on notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. The streaming service, home to "Making a Murderer," "The Keepers," and numerous other crime docuseries, will...

Source: Brooklyn Rail Mao Zedong launched the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957 as a reaction to the critical statements that emerged from the Hundred Flowers Movement, during which intellectuals were encouraged to express their honest views of the Communist Party. As a...

Source: Rolling Stone 1. Amazing Grace - It only took 46 years to see it, but this legendary concert film chronicling Aretha Franklin’s two-night stand at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles — the same 1972 shows that gave her the best-selling...

Source: The Washington Post Movies and Capitol Hill tend to mix mostly in throwback work, like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” or in token scenes in popcorn fests, such as “Mission: Impossible,” in which lawmakers try to rein in renegade heroes. Otherwise? Policy and...

Source: IndieWire Beginning today, just a few hours after Bruce Springsteen plays the final song of his Broadway residency, Netflix subscribers around the globe will be gifted front-row seats to one of the most exclusive shows the Great White Way has ever seen....

Source: The Atlantic In 1975, Rickey Jackson was 18 years old when he was sentenced to death for a murder he didn’t commit. Before a witness recantation led to his immediate exoneration and release, Jackson spent 39 years in prison. At the time of his release,...

Source: Rolling Stone Cyntoia Brown was only 16 when she was sentenced to life in prison, and the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled last week that she will have to serve 51 years before she can be eligible for release. Brown was convicted of murder and robbery for...

Source: Bustle Sandra Bland is talking about Black Lives Matter in a video recorded on her cell phone. "Being a black person in America is very, very hard," she says in the video, one of the many she made for her "Sandy Speaks" YouTube series. The scene opens the...

Source: The Atlantic Kevin Simmers is a former police sergeant in Hagerstown, Maryland. During his tenure as a narcotics officer, he aggressively pursued drug arrests—especially those related to heroin. “I believed my entire life that incarceration was the answer to...

Source: The Hollywood Reporter An on-the-ground view of one of the great global tragedies of our time, "Still Recording" is two hours of the Syrian civil war distilled from 450 that Saeed Al Batal, Ghiath Ayoub, and six other videographers shot between 2011 and...

Source: Vox Colombia is currently dealing with a massive wave of refugees coming from Venezuela. A severe economic crisis under current President Nicolás Maduro is causing them to flee; inflation rates are sky high, and there isn’t enough food in the country....

Source: Los Angeles Times Shraysi Tandon’s sobering debut documentary, “Invisible Hands,” takes a no-nonsense approach to exploring child labor and trafficking practices throughout the world. There’s no way to depict these subjects on film that are not horribly...

Source: The Hollywood Reporter "Is it possible to forgive?" That question, asked in Ofra Bloch's "Afterward," feels particularly relevant in these politically charged times seemingly marked more than ever by hatred and resentments. In his cinematic debut, the...

Source: Variety The Orchard has released the official trailer and set a Jan. 29 digital release date for Matthew Testa's climate change documentary, “The Human Element.” In the film, photographer James Balog uses his camera to reveal how environmental change is...

Source: Business Insider The Ocean Cleanup, founded by 24-year-old Dutch innovator Boyan Slat, has run into some problems during its first month deploying a massive plastic cleaning array. Slat's 2,000-foot-long device, System 001, recently spent four weeks in the...

Source: Newsweek Former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has fueled speculation that he will run for president in 2020 with the Iowa premiere of his new documentary on climate change. Bloomberg, who is said to be considering running as a Democrat after having toyed...

Source: Scientific American A new art installation by British artist and filmmaker John Akomfrah that focuses on climate change will open in the Boston Harbor next spring. "Purple" is an immersive six-channel video installation that sheds light on climate change's...

Source: The Washington Post Movies and Capitol Hill tend to mix mostly in throwback work, like “Mr. Smith Goes to Washington,” or in token scenes in popcorn fests, such as “Mission: Impossible,” in which lawmakers try to rein in renegade heroes. Otherwise? Policy and...

Source: The Washington Post The portrait of Roger Ailes, the late, disgraced Fox News chief, that emerges in the meticulous and highly watchable (if one-sided) documentary, “Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes,” is of a power-hungry, paranoid serial sexual...

Source: The Atlantic Once upon a time, an economically depressed and largely forgotten town in the Balkans experienced a digital gold rush. The monthly salary in Veles, Macedonia had been $371; now young people were earning up to $16,000. The year was 2016, and the...

Source: USA Today With "The Clinton Affair," Monica Lewinsky is ready to revisit the 1998 sex scandal that nearly unraveled Bill Clinton's presidency, and she hopes by doing so she can retire the term "Lewinsky scandal" once and for all. "I think 20 years is enough...

Source: HBO Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the U.S. After a routine partial hip replacement operation leaves the mother of filmmaker and comedian Steve Burrows in a coma with permanent brain damage, what starts as a personal video diary becomes...

Source: The Atlantic When NASA launched Apollo 8 on December 21, 1968, the manned spaceflight mission had one objective: “To go around the moon and get back alive,” remembers astronaut Bill Anders in a new short documentary, "Earthrise," directed by Emmanuel...

Source: Boing Boing Life on Mars has always been a standard science fiction topic, but season 2 of National Geographic’s “Mars,” which premiered Monday shows how real and attainable that focus has become. The first season of the docudrama series aired in 2016 and was...

Source: PBS "Sacred: Milestones of a Spiritual Life" explores faith as a primary human experience, revealing how people across the world turn to ritual and prayer to navigate the milestones and crises of private life. The film takes viewers on a global journey of...

Source: LiveKindly “A Prayer for Compassion” looks at the spirituality involved in living a plant-based, cruelty-free lifestyle, aiming to “awaken the inner vegan” in those who are religious or spiritual. Filmmaker Thomas Wade Jackson travels across America,...

Source: NBC News Climate science and Christian fundamentalism might not seem to go together with a recent poll showing that only 28% of white evangelicals believe Earth is warming because of human activity. But Katherine Hayhoe says it's never been a problem for her....

Source: The Hollywood News Jawad Rhalib’s "When Arabs Danced" provides an uncensored view of creative, contemporary artists inside the Muslim faith who are struggling to understand where the joy and freedom have gone from their religion. Filmed in Belgium, Iran,...

Source: The Hollywood Reporter Netflix is adding another true crime docuseries to its roster, this time focusing on notorious serial killer Ted Bundy. The streaming service, home to "Making a Murderer," "The Keepers," and numerous other crime docuseries, will...

Source: Rolling Stone Netflix will explore murder, corruption, and wrongful convictions in "The Innocent Man," an upcoming docuseries based on John Grisham’s best-selling 2006 non-fiction bestselling book of the same name. The six-part series, which launches...

Source: Variety Netflix has acquired “Murder Mountain: Welcome to Humboldt County,” a true-crime murder-mystery docuseries from the team behind “Man on Wire” and “LA 92.” The six-part series examines a series of murders that took place in a remote California...

Source: TheWrap Netflix has announced a December 14 premiere date for its new six-part true crime docuseries, “The Innocent Man.” Based on John Grisham’s best-selling non-fiction book, “The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town," the series tells the...

Source: Variety An upcoming documentary about Neil Armstrong will utlize rare home videos shot by Armstrong himself and footage from NASA to tell the celebrated astronaut’s life story. “Armstrong” is in production and will launch next spring to coincide with the 50th...

Source: Realscreen National Geographic has acquired the global rights, excluding the UK and Ireland, to "Avenging Evil." The documentary tells the story of a small group of Holocaust survivors who attempted in 1946 to carry out the indiscriminate murder of six...

Source: TheWrap They aren’t sisters in a familial sense. But Ruth Elias, Ada Lichtman, Hanna Marton, and Paula Biren share a terrible kinship: They are the only people from their respective families to survive the Nazi Holocaust. In “Shoah: Four Sisters,” the latest...

Source: Deadline Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired global distribution rights to "They Shall Not Grow Old," the Peter Jackson-directed World War I documentary that premiered last month to rave reviews at the London Film Festival. The film mixes previously unseen...

Source: IndieWire Beginning today, just a few hours after Bruce Springsteen plays the final song of his Broadway residency, Netflix subscribers around the globe will be gifted front-row seats to one of the most exclusive shows the Great White Way has ever seen....

Source: The Tennessean Through his lens, Ken Burns has made epic explorations into "Baseball," "Prohibition," and several wars. Next year, the documentary filmmaker will take audiences on a 16-hour journey through "Country Music." The eight-part film is set to...

Source: Deadline HBO will premiere Morgan Neville’s critically acclaimed Fred Rogers documentary, "Won’t You Be My Neighbor," on February 9. In addition, HBO will honor Rogers' contribution and commitment to public television with a special presentation of the film...

Source: Revolver "There's a lot of bands, heavy metal bands, on the Navajo reservation. And for some reason this music, this subculture, seems to permeate with the youth," says Jerold Cecil, manager of Arizona act I Dont Konform. "What Rez Metal is — 'rez' is sort of...

Source: VICE Sports In this episode of "Red Cards," Vice Sports revisits the 2007 NBA betting scandal. Vice Sports follows the character of Jimmy "The Sheep" Battista, the mastermind behind the scandal, and the person who sparked NBA referee Tim Donaghy to bet on his...

Source: EuroHoops The EuroLeague Insider Documentary Series is back, and legendary coach Larry Brown is featured in the first episode of its 2018-19 season. Larry Brown is the only basketball coach to ever win both NBA and NCAA titles, and. at the age of 78, he's...

Source: Deadline The success of recent documentaries about Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Fred Rogers proves that people are craving heroes right now. Enter Willie O’Ree, the NHL’s first black player, who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday. He's the subject...

Source: Bleacher Report Showtime has released the trailer for its upcoming documentary series, "Shut Up and Dribble." The three-part series, produced by SpringHill Entertainment partners LeBron James, Maverick Carter, and Rich Paul, traces the NBA's place in American...

Source: Motherboard Extensive research has gone into making cars, trucks, and farms autonomous—basically all the ways that we produce and transport goods around the world. Now, make way for autonomous boats. In a new documentary by Motherboard, Sea Machines and...

Source: BGR Remarkably skilled adrenaline junkies in Dubai have been flying personal jetpacks for awhile now. The Jetman vehicles they pilot are capable of some amazing feats, such as flying alongside passenger jets and performing other dangerous stunts. Now, their...

Source: IndieWire It’s called YY, just two little letters that contain multitudes. China’s largest live-streaming platform allows its greatest success stories the chance to make thousands of dollars — and collect thousands of fans, gifts, and other online accolades —...

Source: Bloomberg For decades, we've dreamed of robots that can be our companions. Now, Danielle Ishak is trying to build one. Named ElliQ, the robot is aimed at the elderly who live alone, and it's in the homes of about a dozen beta testers in the San Francisco Bay...

Source: Decider The end of the year is always a stressful time. Not only do you have to worry about the holidays, last-minute gift giving, and the inevitable dread that comes with realizing that next year is just around the corner, but you have to add all that...

Source: PBS Set against the harsh backdrop of the Arctic, NATURE's "Snow Bears" follows the journey of newborn polar bear cubs as they leave the safety of their den for the first time. Bravely led by their mother, the cubs must make the perilous 400-mile trek to the...

Source: Empire People love dogs. It's just a fact. And dogs, for the most part, are content to hang around with us provided there are treats available. "Dogs," a new documentary series from Netflix is aimed squarely at those who depend on their canine companions and...

Source: CBS News What would you do if you saw a snake in your backyard? Not just your ordinary garden snake, but a python. Introduced through human error or carelessness, invasive species like the Burmese python, lionfish, and Asian carp are threatening a delicate...

Source: VICE A decade after the 2008 financial crisis, Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, Henry Paulson, Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner, and more speak out as they never have before about the frantic, bipartisan effort to keep America out of a second Great...

Source: The Hollywood Reporter Not all of the victims of Lehman Brothers' shady business practices were investors and borrowers. As Jennifer Deschamps' documentary, "Inside Lehman Brothers," vividly illustrates, some of them worked inside the company. The film tells...

Source: VOX IKEA has mastered the “Gruen effect.” Researchers estimate that 50 percent of purchases are unplanned. These purchases, especially impulse buys, present an opportunity for retailers who can entice consumers to deviate from their shopping lists. One of the...

Source: Artsy “It’s very important for good art to be expensive,” auctioneer Simon de Pury says at the beginning of "The Price of Everything," the documentary about the contemporary art market that premieres November 12 on HBO. “You only protect things that are...

Source: Wired On a weeknight at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art, the celebrated German industrial designer Dieter Rams ambled up to a podium in his uniform of a black shirt, thinning silver bowl cut, and cane. He was there to introduce a movie, of which he is...

Source: Realscreen Streaming and on-demand platform CuriosityStream will launch its original docuseries "The History of Food" later this month. The five-part culinary series explores the science, history, culture, and lore behind the foods of the world with renowned...

Source: Brooklyn Rail Mao Zedong launched the Anti-Rightist Movement in 1957 as a reaction to the critical statements that emerged from the Hundred Flowers Movement, during which intellectuals were encouraged to express their honest views of the Communist Party. As a...

Source: BirminghamLive BBC film, "Gun No. 6," shows the chilling moment a man is shot and killed during an attempted Post Office raid. Part documentary and part reconstruction, the film tells the haunting story of an automatic weapon that has been used in at least 11...

Source: WWD Though filmed between 1998 and 2001, Yves Saint Laurent documentary, "Celebration," is only now seeing the light of day. It was released Nov. 14 in France. The depiction of an aging, ailing Saint Laurent in the years before his departure from the fashion...

Source: Independent “Hello Catherine. “Hello Catherine. Can you make any noise so I know that you’re listening to me? “Catherine, can you make any noise? “Can you bang your phone or anything? “Catherine, are you there? “I think that’s the phone gone...” These were...

Source: Variety The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Monday announced its shortlists in the Documentary Feature and Documentary Short Subject categories. The shortlists pare down the list of Oscar hopefuls from which Academy members will choose nominees...

Source: Filmmaker Magazine This past fall, the stage was perfectly set for the release of Errol Morris’s latest documentary, "American Dharma." An Oscar-winning director takes on Steve Bannon, perhaps the most controversial figure of the Trump presidency. The film...

Source: IndieWire Black Mother - Khalik Allah’s latest feature, “Black Mother,” is a challenging and profound deep-dive into Jamaican identity that rewards repeat viewings and confirms the aesthetic of a visionary filmmaker. The three trimesters of a woman’s...

Source: IndieWire Last year, the Academy documentary branch had to grapple with a record 170 documentary feature submissions for the Best Documentary Feature Oscar. This year, it’s not so bad; only 166 were entered. The short list of 15 will be announced on December...